


The Strange Reading Habits of Jonathan Sims

by HereIBe



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: e081 A Guest for Mr. Spider (The Magnus Archives), Gen, Kid!Jon, No beta we kayak like Tim
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:01:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24511231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HereIBe/pseuds/HereIBe
Summary: When Jonathan Sims sees his childhood bully taken by Mr. Spider, he wants to run.  But something tells him that if he turns away, if he takes his eye off that evil picture book for just a second, Mr. Spider will snatch him away too.  So instead, Jon picks up the book, holding it shut as tight as he can to keep the spider stuck inside, and takes it home.
Comments: 85
Kudos: 297





	1. Chapter 1

He didn’t dare to blink. Jon wanted nothing more than to run, but he was frozen, barely remembering to breathe. Despite his heart beating so fast he might faint, and the dread boiling in his stomach, his eyes stayed glued on Thomas Schroeder’s back. 

He was a tall and lanky teenager, his height having once intimidated Jon. But now, standing unnaturally straight and lifting his arm as if in a trance, any teenage bravado was gone. All Jon could do was watch in horror as Thom slowly knocked upon the awful door that had grown out of the cursed picture book. He knew that Mr. Spider was about to receive his next guest.

**KNOCK. KNOCK.**

Subconsciously, Jon held his breath as the door before Thom opened, icy dread freezing him stock still. Thom’s arm limply dropped from it’s knocking position, but the bully made no other movements. He simply stood there, looking unruffled as if he was simply in line at the local Tesco’s. But Jon saw more. He swore that the black glittering eyes of Mr. Spider, more monstrous than anything he could have imagined, locked to his own before switching their gaze to its newest guest. 

Two hideous legs, coated in sharp black hair slowly emerged from the doorway. They gently touched down on the concrete steps, and Jon was horrified to see Mr. Spider work it’s mandibles before holding deathly still. 

A moment passed, and then Thom suddenly appeared to come back to himself. The teen flinched violently, gasped in a terrified breath and tried to step back from Mr. Spider - but before he could move more than a step, the black legs clenched around his lanky frame and drew him inside faster than a blink. The door slammed shut, cutting off Thom’s strangled scream. The world felt too quiet then, just a soft sound as the terrible book fell shut on the doorstep. 

****

Jon must have stood frozen in place for the better part of an hour, adrenaline rushing through his veins as he breathed as quietly as he could - shallow and sharp. He felt that the slightest movement would summon Mister Spider back to finish his meal. Only his eyes moved, darting to any perceived movement in the alley, as the skies darkened. 

Eventually, Jon dared to take a step back, his eyes wide and alert for any movement from the doorway or the damned book. Nothing happened. He was sore and cramped from standing still for so long. He wanted to dash away, and never think about Mr. Spider or Thom or what he had seen again. But his fear wouldn’t let him. He didn’t want to let the book out of his sight, convinced that as soon as he turned his back, the hairy limbs of the spider would collect him as swiftly as the bully had disappeared. 

Jon glared at the book and came to a decision. A stupid decision, he knew, but it felt like the only one he could make. He couldn’t allow the book to open. He couldn’t let it out of his sight.

He darted forwards as quickly as he could, and stomped on the top cover of the book. He froze there, eyes locked on the cover, daring the book to try something. It lay docile, and once Jon was convinced of it’s cooperation, he picked it up gingerly, making sure to keep it squeezed tightly shut. 

What could he possibly do with this now? The spider on the book looked fat and glutted, lethargic after a fine meal. His eyes finally lifted from the cover, gazing mistrustfully at the door to the house. It  _ looked _ like a normal door. He backed away, feeling his way down the steps. 

It was then that Jon realized how dark it had gotten. It must have been hours after he was supposed to return home. Jon wished desperately that he was there- huddled in the relative safety of his bedroom under the itchy blanket his grandmother had crocheted for him. He wished that he had never left the house. He wished that he had never opened the book. But he had, and now he couldn’t let it out of his sight!

He hugged it tighter to his chest, not daring to give it any chance of opening again, and made his way to the end of the alley. He turned the corner onto a marginally busy street, and the sounds of humanity did a good deal to calm Jon down. He rested for a moment with his back to the wall, finally feeling safe enough to take a true breath of air, and thought. He didn’t know what to do, but he wanted the safety of home. Maybe his grandmother could help him make a plan.

He ducked his head and began the trek home, along the way grasping for ideas on how to keep himself safe from this terrible book. He thought about just throwing it in a rubbish bin somewhere, but try as he might, he couldn’t bring himself to get rid of it. Something in his mind told him he HAD to keep it close to him, somewhere that he could keep an eye on it. 

****

Jon put the evil book on the ground and stepped on top of it so he could keep it shut while he used both hands to unlock the apartment doot. He tried to be as quiet as he could, but his keys jingled and the doorframe stuck as always, giving away his late entry. 

“JONATHAN SIMS!” His grandmother was  _ not  _ happy. “Do you have any idea what time it is??”

“I- there was a—” Jon picked up the book and scrambled inside. He didn’t know how to even begin explaining what had happened.

“You’re not getting dinner tonight, Jonathan.” His grandmother turned away from him and back to the TV “We have talked about this.”

“I didn’t mean to! It’s this book!” Jon jabbed a finger at  _ A Guest for Mr. Spider _ . “This huge spider came out of it, and it—”

“You and your books!” his grandmother sounded exasperated “I am grounding you. No new books for a month.”

“No, you don’t understand!” Jon cried “it’s dangerous! It ate Thom Schroeder!!”

“I don’t want to hear it!” his grandmother turned up the volume on her show. “Get to your room Jon.”

“But—!” Jon needed help. It wasn’t safe!

“Now!” She turned to him with a glare, pointing down the hall to his bedroom. 

Jon felt tears begin to well up in his eyes “But I need help! It’s dangerous!!”

His grandmother just shook her head and turned back to the TV once again. He felt a tear run down his cheek, and dashed it away with his sleeve as he turned around to stomp towards his bedroom. 

_ It wasn’t fair. _ He  _ wasn’t  _ lying! He was exhausted and scared and angry and all he wanted to do was to flop down on his bed and cry, but he couldn’t let the book go without worrying that it might open again.

Being at home wasn’t safe if he couldn’t keep the book shut. 

As he passed their kitchenette, the partially open junk drawer caught his eye. He needed to keep it shut… 

He detoured to grab a roll of duct tape and a few sheets of yesterday’s newspaper, and slinked into his bedroom, closing the door tightly behind him. Setting the book on down, he kneeled upon it to keep it shut while he pulled an old shoebox from under his bed. 

Upturning it, he shook out his stash of childhood treasures. A few bird feathers and a painted rock he had found at the local park, a beat up copy map of london that he had scavenged at the train station, and a photograph, creased and faded, of his parents. 

They had always looked like strangers to Jon. His Grandmother said they had disappeared when he was too young to remember their faces, but he had one or two vague memories that simply did not match up with the smiling figures in the photo. He always brushed the feeling off, and figured that he was simply as emotionally stunted as Grandmother always complained about. He tried not to let it bother him anymore, and held onto the photo more to prove that he wasn’t “stunted” than out of any true feelings for the people in it. 

He picked up the painted rock and weighed it in his hands before setting it atop the evil book. Carefully he stood up, watching a moment to make sure the rock was heavy enough to keep it shut. He squinted at it before running to his bookshelf. He brought back a dictionary and the longest story he had, stacking them atop the picture book and then replacing the rock on top. 

He frowned and watched it for another moment, hands hovering in case it wasn’t enough to contain the monster inside. 

When he felt relatively secure, he unfolded the newspaper and spread the sheets out on the floor like wrapping paper. He tore a few messy strips of duct tape and readied them to the side.

Being a lonely child with a penchant for reading had filled Jon with a respect for books that even a giant spider monster could not dislodge. Despite his desire to simply wrap the book so tightly in tape that he couldn’t see that awful illustration on the cover ever again, he was unwilling to touch the tape directly to the cover and risk ruining it forever. Instead, he carefully removed the evil book from under the weights, and wrapped it in the newspaper, holding it shut. 

Then he wound the strips of duct tape around, this way and that, containing the horrible thing inside. He placed the wrapped book inside the shoe box, then put the two thick books and his painted rock on top. He decided to tape the lid on the shoebox too, for good measure. 

He looked askance at his handy work. What good would a few layers of tape do when *that* creature was lurking inside? He should destroy it, burn it or something. But he felt a deep dread even thinking of that — partially again from the idea of burning a book, and partially from the faint feeling that attempting to destroy it would only lead to something worse. 

So Jon shoved the box in his closet, underneath another couple of books, and shoved his night stand in front of the closet door. Despite how exhausted he felt, he couldn’t sleep that night, filled with anxious energy and convinced he could hear scratching muffled from behind the door whenever he closed his eyes. 


	2. Chapter 2

Jon’s Grandmother made no mention of his impromptu bedroom rearrangement. His dresser had joined his nightstand in barricading his closet door and the book trapped inside, and his bedside lamp was turned at an awkward angle to illuminate the door all night long. 

Jon had managed a few fretful naps in the imagined safety of daylight, but whenever the sun set, he was too wary of the book to dare sleep. Instead, his nights were spent silently watching the closet door, holding a heavy bookend which he had taken from his grandmother’s bookshelf in the main room. He didn’t think it would really help much if the giant spider did make it out, given his skinny arms and general lack of athleticism, but it did make him feel marginally safer to have. 

Even the small naps that he had managed to snag over the past few days were filled with fear — often bloody visions of Thom’s imagined fate after the door shut behind him. He had awoken often, shuddering with these nightmares that his grandmother did NOT want to hear about. 

“Why are you sleeping before dinner? You won’t be able to fall asleep for bed, you silly child.” She would say, frowning at him in his rumpled school clothes. “It’s too early, no wonder you had a bad dream. Honestly Jon, if you just go to sleep normally, this wouldn’t happen.” 

He hadn’t tried to ask his grandmother for her help again. Jon didn’t like being called silly, or a liar, and didn’t like being sent to bed without dinner. 

But also, somehow his duct tape and shoebox seemed to be working! Mr. Spider appeared to be contained. Though Jon was also certain that if he stopped his vigilant watching at night, the spider might find some way to sneak out and eat him. 

With this task distracting him from his usual troublemaking, Jon was quiet and well-behaved, and his grandmother usually left him to his own devices as long as nothing he did got into her way. She also made no mention of the bags under his eyes, or of the way he simply pushed his food around at meals. He felt too nauseous and shaky to really eat anything more than a few bites. 

Nothing changed until a teacher called his Grandmother at the end of the week, concerned about his listlessness, to ensure he “didn’t stay up too late watching television”. 

“Oh thank you so much for calling, I hope he hasn’t been too much trouble” His grandmother had breezily responded. “Yes of course, I will be reinforcing bedtime, he’s just such a  _ willful _ child, you understand.” 

Jon hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but she was walking towards his room while on the phone, and the walls of their apartment were paper thin. He broke his vigil over the closet, dropping the bookend “weapon” and attempted to turn out the light and dive under the covers at the same time. Unfortunately, his grandmother opened the door while he was still a foot from his bed. 

She scowled at his sheepish expression, but kept talking pleasantly on the phone. “Of course. Thanks again for calling Ms. May. You have a good night too.”

She hung up the phone, and put her hands on her hips. “Jon, it’s almost 9:30. What is this light doing on? Why aren’t you in bed?”

“I just had to… I can’t sleep, the book, it—”

“Of course.  _ A book _ .  _ Again _ .” She crossed her arms and pursed her lips at him. “Get in bed, Jonathan. We are talking about this in the morning. And don’t let me see this light on again, understand?”

Jon nodded morosely, and his grandmother had shut off his light, and shut his door tightly. 

He was only eight, and his body couldn’t hold out on sleep forever. With his week of frantic vigilance and stolen naps, he was exhausted. And somehow, even though Mr. Spider was terrifying, familiarity with his fear had eventually taken the panicky edge off. So even as he feared the book in the closet of his dark room more than his grandmother’s temper, Jon was still able to fall into a deep sleep for the first time since he had seen Thom taken.

****

In the morning, his grandmother had scolded him and ensured a firm bed time of 8:30pm — with ALL the lights out, thank you very much. More annoyingly, she had taken away all the books on his bookshelf as punishment. Jon wasn’t as upset by that as he might have been before, and he hadn’t tried to explain again. She was obviously more concerned about  _ paying attention in class _ and  _ good grades _ than whatever “silly nightmares” were keeping him up. 

So when bedtime rolled around, she shut off the lights and shut him inside his bedroom, which felt smaller and more menacing than the night before. But he did manage to sleep, surprisingly well. And unlike his naps, he no longer awoke shuddering with nightmares.

That didn’t mean that his dreams were pleasant, though. 

Instead of the previous disjointed nightmares, his dreams had begun to change. Instead of Mr. Spider chasing him, or disjointed scenes of imagined spiders eating Thom, his dreams became sharper and more realistic. He also kept having the same dream, over and over.

_ He was Thom. He felt woozy and confused as he knocked on Mr. Spider’s door. Then like being dunked in ice-cold water, he became aware of what was in front of him. He was shouting for help, eyes latched on Jon’s tiny, terrified form before he was dragged into the darkness behind the door. Then there was pain, then pins and needles, then a rippling numbness where Mr. Spider bit him, swift and sharp, as he struggled desperately to pull away. He was fighting madly to move, to run, to strike out - anything, but his body was heavy and immobile as Mr. Spider slowly began winding him, feet first, in tough spider silk.  _

The fear and desperation that Jon-as-Thom felt in the dream at that point always woke him up, near enough to his alarm that it was already daylight. Jon would throw off his blankets and pace around the room, sometimes even trying to lift the heavy pane of glass to open his window, desperate to move and prove to himself that he was not stuck paralized as well.

And each time he had the dream, he felt less like Thom, and more like just Jon, being lured into Mr. Spider’s home. 

****

Despite the fear and desperation, the exhaustion of being haunted in his own dreams and terrified of the book that lay wrapped up in his closet, one thing still remained constant. Jon still had to go to school.

That Monday, his teacher greeted everyone with an especially large smile, which was adding to Jon’s sleep-deprived headache and making him grouchier than normal. 

“We have a real special treat today class!” Ms. May said in a sing-song voice, motioning for everyone to take their seats. Jon’s class only had around 20 kids in it, but he didn’t particularly like any of them. They were noisy and messy and made fun of the way he spelled his name. But at least none of them picked on him the way some of the older kids did.

“Settle down! Come on now!” his teacher said, bringing her hands together in the classic call-and-response pattern every teacher uses.

_ Clap, Clap, Clap-clap-clap! _ The students all responded. Jon didn’t bother to lift his hands to clap along - he was already being quiet.

“There, now!” Ms. May smiled again “We are working on our creative writing this month, so we have a special treat for all 3rd grade students! Patrick, Maggie, would you please come up here and help me pass these out?”

The two students excitedly got up and walked to the front of the room, eager to see the surprise first. Mrs May passed them each a small stack of notebooks.

“What I have here are special notebooks for every student! Now these are yours to keep, and you can use them in any way you like. You can draw in them, you can write in them, you can use them as a diary or a journal to help sort out your thoughts…” Ms. May held up one as an example. “Whatever you choose, it’s yours! I hope we can all use them to be more creative this month!”

Jon stopped listening to her as he inspected the composition notebook that Maggie had handed to him. It had a little space on the front cover where he could write his name, and the rest of the pages were crisp and lined. He paged through it and frowned in concentration, then took out his pencil and carefully wrote his name on the cover. 

_ Property of: Jon Sims _

A journal, she had said. They could fill it with whatever they liked, and it would help them sort out their thoughts. It wouldn’t be collected or graded, but she was sure it would help them explore creative outlets. They could make up stories, or drawings, or just scribble. Jon wasn’t sure about creative outlets, but he certainly did have a big problem that he needed to sort out. Maybe this could help…?

****

Jon flung his pencil across his bedroom and scowled. This was NOT as easy as Ms. May said it would be. 

He had so many thoughts that he didn’t know what to write. He had tried writing about his dreams, but he ended up with mostly garbled sentences, and it frustrated him not to be able to put them into words. 

They felt so real while he was having them, but as soon as he tried to pin them down, it was like all he could think of was the same numbness Thom felt in the dream after being bitten. He could barely make himself lift his pencil, and he ended up doodling spiders in the corner of the page instead of actually writing anything down.

Then, when he felt a bit less numb, he had looked at the spider drawings and had a flash of irrational fear that  _ they _ were going to suddenly come alive and crawl out of the page as Mr. Spider had done. He angrily scribbled them out with so much force that he almost ripped through the page. 

If only Mr. Spider could be scribbled out so easily.

He wanted to write about  _ that day _ , but it felt almost too personal. The idea of having his experience written down where anyone could find it left him feeling shockingly exposed, with just the slim cover of the notebook between his story and the world where anyone could read it.

He had tried to tell his Grandmother, but he sort-of-knew that she wouldn’t believe him, in the same way that he sort-of-knew that she didn’t notice what time he came home as long as he was there for dinner, and the way he knew that she didn’t remember that he hated cantaloupe no matter how many times he had told her. 

He was also kind of worried that writing it down would make it more real. Like if he just kept it to himself, and kept the book wrapped up tight and stuck in his closet and never thought about it again, that it would go away. 

But there was something more… there was something worse. Thomas Schroeder had disappeared. He had a family, he had friends at school, he had a teacher and a little sister and a badminton team… and yet  _ no one seemed to remember him _ .

Jon only realized it that second week at school, when he could think clearer after finally being forced to sleep through the night again — no one was worried. There were no announcements at the school, his little sister had been picked up by his mom as always, and no one seemed sad to see him gone. It was like he had never existed at all.

If Jon disappeared, if  _ he  _ was taken by Mr. Spider… he didn’t have friends. He didn’t have a sister. He had a grandmother that only noticed if he was 5 hours late coming home from school. If a well-liked boy like Thom could be forgotten so easily… What hope did Jon Sims have?

It felt IMPORTANT to record what had happened to Thom, because he had been safe so far hiding Mr. Spider in his closet, but it might get out one day. And if it does, Jon wants  _ someone _ at least to remember him. He wants  _ someone _ to know what will have happened to him - even if he didn’t think his Grandmother would especially care. 

And so even though it was scary to have it written down, even though it felt like reliving through that day again and left him with a resurgence of fear, Jon did his best to write. It was clumsy, and his handwriting slanted across the page, his pencil broke twice when he was so upset he accidentally pressed too hard. 

And he might have cried a little, while he was thinking about things he had tried his best not to think about, but it was done. He wiped away his tears and put his notebook underneath his pillow, and just lay there for a bit trying not to think, before eventually falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww baby Jon writes his first "statement"! 
> 
> My third grade teacher really did hand out blank composition notebooks to my class - and i loved it. i still have mine filled with silly drawings and poems and such.


	3. Chapter 3

Jon refused to look at the notebook for the next few days. Once his experience was fully written out, Jon was exhausted, but he also couldn’t get the memories of that day out of his head. It was written down, it was solid, it was finite - no longer just a swirling memory made larger and more terrifying by his imagination. But writing down the tale had amplified his memories - though the frantic edge of his fear was gone, something had replaced it. Curiosity.

Jon loved books. He loved reading about interesting things and places, where he could imagine himself far away from his class and school and his grandmother. Even more, he loved how books could provide answers to his questions in a way that didn’t involve adults telling him off for being too nosy or loud. 

He had never heard of a book hurting someone before. He had never heard of a spider living within a book. But it had happened, obviously, and now Jon was annoyed that no one had ever told him this was a possibility. 

What made this book different and dangerous? Were there any signs? Jon kept thinking of more and more questions - while he was supposed to be paying attention in class, while he was walking home through the park, and even when he was trying to fall asleep at night. 

He tossed and turned in bed, head racing. 

There had to be a sign, he must have just missed something. He had to double check -- just so he wouldn’t accidentally start reading a book like this one again. He absolutely refused to open the book, but surely as long as it was safely shut, he could inspect the outside for signs of evilness!

His nightstand and dresser were carefully pushed away from his closet door, and Jon slowly turned the doorknob, and opened it just an inch. He waited, carefully watching for any spider legs that might emerge. After a moment of nothing, he threw the door open wide, and tensed… But nothing was out of place. The shoebox still lay where he had shoved it two weeks ago, wrapped in tape and shut tight. 

Jon carefully pulled the shoebox out into his room, and before he started cutting off the tape, he made sure his trusty bookend-weapon was within arms reach. 

Inside the shoebox, he was pleased to see his rock and dictionary just where he had left them, the book firmly wrapped beneath. His plan had worked! Mr. Spider must be stuck inside the book. So as long as he keeps the pages shut, he can take a closer look. 

Unwinding the duct tape took longer than he had thought, and pieces kept sticking to his fingers as he attempted to reveal the cover. He might have gone a bit overboard, he thought sheepishly. 

When all the newspaper was torn away, he finally could get a good look at the cover, and a shiver ran down his spine. It might have been his imagination, but Mr. Spider’s illustration looked a bit different than before. He swore the spider had been round and fat, like he had just eaten a big meal, but now it was spindly and gaunt, it’s expression almost hungry. 

Jon frowned at it and tilted the book in his hands, looking at the spine and back cover to try and find any signs of evil-ness. There was a small bend in the corners of the cardboard cover, like any well-read book might have. The spine didn’t have an author’s name, but that also wasn’t so uncommon. The back of the book had no text at all, just a closer-up image of Mr. Spiders' smiling, hungry face. 

Jon hated to look at it. He put the book down and placed the bookend on top of the evil face, using a bit more force than necessary. This was a stupid idea, the whole book was stupid. He should have just left it wrapped up and—

His musing was interrupted by the door opening.

“Why is this light on young man? We talked about bedtime!” His grandmother entered the room, eyes sweeping over the mess of duct tape and newspaper on his floor. She scowled at Jon, “What is this mess!? I expect better from you.” 

Jon didn’t know what to say. He looked at the shredded paper around him and felt very small.

“I was just — I couldn’t sleep.” Jon said breathlessly. “I had to check —”

“Sleeping usually happens better if you’re in your bed, Jon.” His grandmother didn’t bother to hide the exasperation in her voice. “And not when you’re doing arts and crafts. Why don’t you pick this up.”

Jon ducked his head and began slipping things back into his closet, subtly stacking everything back on top of the book. Then he swept up the little piles of tape with his hands as his grandmother supervised.

“That's better.” She shook her head and straightened out his dresser, which he had left crookedly standing in the middle of his room in his quest to get inside the closet. “You’re usually not so messy, I don’t know what caused this.”

Jon, chastised and feeling a bit silly, stepped back over his bed, and pulled the mess of blankets back into place. He had knocked them to the floor with all his tossing and turning. 

His nightstand scraped against the floor as his grandmother pushed it back into place as well. “I’m too old to be moving furniture around. And you have to take better care of your things, Jonathan. Look at all the cobwebs in here.” 

Jon froze, but his grandmother kept on talking. “I thought you agreed to keep your room clean, that includes your closet. I know I taught you how to dust.” 

Jon slowly turned around, heart racing, and followed his grandmother’s gaze. She raised her eyebrows, and pointed to the ceiling inside of his closet. He had been too focused on getting the picture book out to notice earlier, but the corners of the closet door were absolutely covered in thin spider webs. 

His heart dropped, and his eyes widened in horror. Now that he was looking for it, he could see light reflecting off of tiny pieces of web, almost invisible, all around his closet walls. 

“No, that's impossible!” Jon whispered, head reeling. “It was shut, it couldn’t have gotten out.”

His grandmother raised her eyebrows again. “Bedtime, Jon! You can worry about this in the morning.”

“No, you don’t understand!” Jon cried out “It didn’t get out! It couldn’t have!!”

His grandmother looked a bit bemused. “What are you talking about Jonathan?”

“The spider!! It’s been trapped, it couldn’t--!!” He was confused and terrified. There was no way those webs had been there before.

“If you’d just clean your room, the spiders wouldn’t bother you.” His grandmother started to walk towards his door.

“No, not normal spiders” Jon wailed. “You don’t understand!”

“I don’t want to argue about this. If you don’t get in bed right now, I’m not taking you with me to the library this weekend.”

Jon couldn’t stop his voice from wavering. “But it's--! It will get me!”

“One…” His grandmother put on her sternest expression.

“Please!”

“Two…” She crossed her arms and frowned at him. “Don’t let me get to three, Jonathan Sims” 

Jon, defeated, collapsed down into his bed. “Fine! I’m in bed! Can you PLEASE get rid of the spider webs?!”

His grandmother rolled her eyes and muttered something about him being too old for this by now, but dutifully took a paper towel to the doorframe, pulling the cobwebs down.

“Now bed! You have school in the morning. We don't need any more excitement tonight.” With that, his grandmother left, shutting out his light.

Jon sat in the dark, staring at his closet door, and felt as though he was going to cry. 

****

He needed to get rid of it, that much was obvious. He knew Mr. Spider hadn’t gotten out, the webs were much too small for that, but something creepy was definitely going on, and the book was to blame. Jon still had that terrible feeling in his gut when he thought about trying to destroy the book, so he would just have to throw it away.

He didn’t want his grandmother to see the picture book in their trash can and ask questions, so Jon simply tucked it tightly under his arm as he made his way out the door for school. He wanted to throw it into the first dumpster he passed, but didn’t want to risk it flopping open and letting Mr. Spider out. 

So, when he came across an easy-to-reach recycling bin, he carefully placed the picture book inside, with his rock set carefully on top. He was sorry to see the rock go, but it was a sacrifice he was more than willing to make if it meant no more evil book or spooky cobwebs. 

Jon felt a hundred times better as he walked away from the bin, refusing to look back even once. There, now it couldn’t bother him any more! He grinned and rubbed his hands on his jacket to try to clean them off, and kept walking the rest of the distance to school.

****

Ms. May usually greets all the students as they come into the classroom, but today she was over by the window with a gaggle of scared looking girls.  
“It’s nothing to be frightened of, see?” She said, opening the window “We’ll just let him outside, where he belongs.”

Jon ignored whatever was happening over there, and went to the coat closet to hang up his jacket and get ready for class. He pulled out his math homework, and his english book, and—

The book was in his backpack. The book was IN HIS BACKPACK! 

Jon’s breath hitched, and he stumbled backwards, eyes wide. He bumped into one of his classmates, who gave him an annoyed glare. 

“Watch it, stupid!” the kid grumbled and shoulder checked him as he walked past. Jon didn’t even notice, he was just staring at his backpack in disbelief.

How was this possible?? He checked again, and yep, there it was. As though it had never been anywhere else. He knew he had left it in the bin. Was it following him?

The bell rang to signal the start of class, and Jon remembered where he was. He glared and zipped the book into his backpack.

“Stay put!” He whispered to it angrily. He felt silly, but also scared and angry that it had showed up again. Of course the evil book was following him now. He went to go sit down at his desk with heavy thoughts swirling. The rest of the class was also slowly making their way to their seats to start the day.

“Ms. May!! There’s another one!” A girl shouted from across the classroom.

“Don’t worry dear, they’re too small to do any harm.” His teacher’s voice interrupted his swirling thoughts. 

Ms. May was carefully sliding an index card under an upturned glass, as the girl watched from a safe distance away.

“Spiders are an important part of the ecosystem! And just remember, they’re more scared of you than you are of them.”

Jon snorted under his breath as he watched his teacher relocate the spider outside. Somehow, he really doubted that.

****

At recess, Jon tried again. 

He had spent all of his morning classes thinking. The book was evil, he knew that. And maybe it had more evil powers besides feeding people to a giant spider-monster. Maybe the book could move on its own.

It felt a bit silly, picturing the book magically inchworming across the sidewalk, covers opening and closing to allow it to “walk”... but how else would it have happened?

The recycling bin from earlier must have been too easy to escape from. But the book hadn’t moved for the near month he had it secure in his closet! So it might still be safe, if he could keep it better contained. 

With that in mind, as soon as the teacher dismissed them, he made a beeline for his secret spot. Away from the kickball games on the tarmac and the noisy kids on the playground, Jon usually spent his recess time in a bush.

Well, not in a bush. But hidden under and sort of behind one of the bushes outside of the school building. He could relax in the shade and lean against the building reading, and no one could find him or bother him there. Sometimes the dirt would stick to his clothing, but it made for a comfortable place to sit and read. 

The dirt was why he headed there now. If just a weight on top wasn’t enough to keep the book in place, he could do a better job and bury it.

Kneeling on the picture book to keep it shut, Jon began digging in the soil with his hands, he wanted to make sure it was deep enough, so he found a sharp rock to help him get deeper into the ground. He had to work fast though, recess was only 15 minutes long. 

When he was satisfied with his hole, he put the book carefully inside, trying not to look at the glinting eyes of Mr. Spider. He then covered it back up with dirt, pressing it down firmly over the top. He even stamped on the dirt for good measure, though standing up did give his position away to the other kids.

“Eww, Jonny’s all dirty. What the heck are you doing?” Maggie and her best friend stared at him as he walked away from the bushes, back towards the rest of the kids. 

Jon looked down at his hands covered in dirt, and noticed that the knees of his jeans were also stained. He didn’t know what to answer the girls, so he didn’t say anything at all.

They were looking at him expectantly, but Maggie scowled when it became clear he wasn’t going to answer. “Whatever, weirdo! Come on Audrey, we don’t need to talk to him.”

****

In the afternoon, they had some “quiet reading time” while Ms. May graded some of their homework. Jon reached inside his desk to pull out his current book, but found a much thinner book inside his desk as well, sitting on top of the book he wanted. He knew what it was immediately, and took it out to glare at it. 

It was back again. A few specks of dirt on the cover were the only evidence of his recess attempt, otherwise it looked as good as new.

Jon shoved the stupid book to the corner of his desk, and put his head down on his arms with a sigh. What was he going to do? Why the heck was the book following him? He had been at his desk all afternoon since lunch, and he hadn’t noticed any weird magical book movements. The darn thing was impossible. 

He closed his eyes and enjoyed the darkness for a moment. Until he felt the edge of the book slip out from under his elbow.

He opened his eyes and sat back up with a jolt, but nothing supernatural was the cause. It was just one of his desk partners, Patrick. He had picked up the book and was opening the front cover.

“NO!” Jon shouted, slamming his hand across the desk to shut it. 

Patrick looked shocked, and then annoyed at Jon’s outburst. “Hey! If you aren’t gonna read it, then I am.”

“You can’t!” Jon said, trying to pull the book out of Patrick’s hands. 

“Ms. May!” Patrick called, maintaining his grip on the picture book and tugging it back towards himself easily, “Jon is trying to steal my book!”

Their teacher meandered over to their desks, giving the tug-of-war an unimpressed look. 

“No, it was my book first! He took it.” Jon didn’t take his eyes off the book as he spoke, and tried to get a better grip on it. “He can’t read it!”

“Jon, don’t you think this book is a little below your reading level?” Ms. May asked, “What about that nice Series of Unfortunate Events book you were reading last week?”

“No! He can’t read it!!” Jon felt his grip slipping.

“If you both want the same book, then you’ll have to share.” Their teacher frowned at Jon. “Jon, you can let Patrick have the book, and then you can read it together.”

“Hah!” Patrick laughed triumphantly as Jon’s fingers slipped off the cover, leaving it in his hands.

“No, you don’t understand — I don’t want to read it!” Jon turned to plead with Ms. May.

“Well, all the more reason to let Patrick have it then!” She turned away and Jon scowled. Why did grownups never listen to him?

He turned back to Patrick, and felt his heart sink. He already had the book open to the first page.

“Patrick…” Jon tried, but the boy didn’t even look up. He was mouthing along with the words as he read, and as he flipped to the next page, he pushed back his chair and stood up in the middle of the classroom.

“No!” Jon Breathed. Patrick picked up the book with a glassy-eyed expression and continued to read.

“No!” Jon said again louder, panicking “Ms. May!!”

He looked up to call his teacher over. “Ms. May!! Patrick is—”

But Ms. May didn’t react to his calls at all. She simply flipped over the paper she was grading, and went on to the next one. 

Jon looked around at the classroom - none of his classmates appeared to be reacting to his distressed shouts either. No one had noticed Patrick stand up, and no one did anything as the boy slowly began to walk towards the classroom door, eyes still locked on Mr. Spider’s book. 

Jon got up and ran over to his teacher’s desk. “MS. MAY!!!” He waved a hand in her face, and she still didn’t react at all. He glanced back over at Patrick, who was already halfway out the door. 

Jon looked around the classroom of oblivious people, and not knowing what else to do, jogged after Patrick down the hall. 

“Hey! Patrick!!” Jon waved a hand in his face as well, and got no reaction. Patrick was still mouthing along to the words as he read, and was steadily walking towards the entrance to the playground. 

Jon tried to stand in his way, but Patrick easily stepped around him without even looking up. 

“Hey! I need help!!” Jon shouted towards the open door of the 5th grade classroom, but no one inside seemed to hear him. 

“Hey!!” He ran over to the door, and was still ignored for his troubles, as Patrick kept walking on. 

Jon tried to see how far along the other boy was in the story, but didn’t want to accidentally be sucked into the same trap by reading along. It looked like he was about halfway through by pages turned though, as he opened the exit door without breaking his stride. 

Jon again ran after him, leaving the school building behind.

He tried holding Patrick in place with both hands in the back of his jumper, digging his heels into the ground. Unfortunately Jon had always been small for his age, and Patrick was taller and played sports, and dragged Jon along easily. No one on the street even blinked to see the two small kids out and about — and none of them were any help to Jon either.

Eventually they ended up about a block away from the school building, turned down an alley. Jon finally let go of Patrick when he made his way up the steps to the backdoor of some random garage. He knew what was coming, and had no desire to be too close when it happened.

Maybe he should have ran away then, but he just couldn’t make himself leave. He was shaking in fearful anticipation, yes, it wasn’t entirely due to fear. Jon’s eyes were sharp with some twisted curiosity. He simply had to watch what would happen.

Patrick lifted the picture book to the door, finally having reached the last page. He moved slowly, and Jon held his breath as he watched the boy, standing rigidly before him, lift his hand to knock.

****

The spider was even worse than he remembered. Jon was frozen again, eyes taking in the similar scene. 

This time he was certain that Mr. Spider’s eyes glinted in his direction, and held that eye contact for a long, tortuous moment before dragging the confused and terrified Patrick away. Somehow, again, Jon was left unscathed.

****

After Patrick had ...left… the book on the doorstep, Jon refused to pick it up. He had simply glared at it, still shaking a bit with adrenaline. 

“Stop following me!” He had shouted at it, from a defensive few feet away. “You got another meal, now leave me alone!!”

He ran off, terribly upset. He made it a few blocks before he realized he had gone in the opposite direction of his school, and decided he didn’t want to go back to school at all. He slowed to a walk and frowned at the ground. He didn’t want to see his stupid teacher and classmates again. He didn’t want to know if they would notice him or not, now that Mr. Spider had gotten what it wanted.

Stupid, stupid spider!! How had he thought that burying it would be enough? This was all Jon’s fault. The book wasn’t safe in his closet, it wasn’t safe in the trash, it wasn’t safe buried, it wasn’t safe anywhere!! He was so mad at himself for even thinking that he had found a solution.

Jon made it home in a daze. His thoughts were racing, and he felt so tired. He was exhausted, and scared, and angry. He had tried to warn them about the stupid book, but no one ever listened! 

He kicked off his shoes, and realized that he had left his jacket and backpack in the closet in the classroom. Whatever. Maybe no one would notice that he was missing, since no one had even bothered to notice when he and Patrick left.

He stomped to his bedroom, making a lot of noise in his agitation - no reaction. His grandmother wasn’t home, it seemed. Fine, he didn’t want to talk to her anyway!! All adults were so DUMB!

He threw himself on his bed face down, and lay there for a moment, his limbs heavy. He just wanted to shut off his thoughts and go to sleep. He curled his arms around his pillow and pulled it to his chest, eyes tightly closed. 

As he curled up, his elbow bumped the notebook he had hidden there. Maybe he should write this experience down too? It had made him feel marginally better last time… 

He opened his eyes and reached for the notebook, only to choke back a gasp, and frantically scramble backwards. It wasn’t just his notebook. Sitting innocently underneath his pillow, staring at him as if laughing, was A Guest for Mister Spider.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a longer one, things are *happening* around poor Jon!


	4. Chapter 4

The evil book was back inside his closet. Jon didn’t bother with the duct tape this time, but did have it clamped shut with a few binder clips he had stolen from his classroom. He knew by now that the spiderwebs would accumulate no matter how closely he kept the book shut, but he still felt marginally safer with it clamped tight.

He had been obsessively checking on the book several times a day, worried that it would start to follow him again, but so far it seemed content to sit in his closet. Though he wasn’t sure how long that could last — he was certain that the spider on the front cover had been getting hungrier-looking over the past week. 

Worse than that though, were his dreams. They had changed again, and he knew from them that Mr. Spider was hungry:

_ Jon was wrapped up in a strong web, struggling like a fly while Mr. Spider walks slow circles around him. He was at the local playground, frozen in place while the other children ran around, seemingly oblivious to the horrified expression on his face. A shifting vision of his grandmother, covered in tiny spiders and struggling as she was buried in an avalanche of them. Everything shifts as his own vision is blacked out by spiders. He blinks, finding himself free again. He walks up to his bathroom mirror, and sees eight eyes, glowing green, staring back at him. He turns to run, but Mr. Spider is always there blocking his path, ready to bite.  _

The dreams made him tense and itchy, always waiting to see Mr. Spider when he turned a corner in real life as well. If there had been about 3 weeks between Thom and Patrick… maybe that was how long he had before the spider would eat again? Jon needed more information. He didn’t want to be its next meal.

Jon had pulled out his notebook that morning, and written down his observations from the day Patrick had been taken. But it wasn’t enough. He needed more information, he needed research. If he was able to know the book, to understand it — perhaps he could figure out how to avoid a terrible end. 

He was certain that if he kept on like this, one day the steady pull that had stopped him from throwing the book out, that had him creeping closer and closer to the closet door each night, would have him open the book again. And he was certain if he did, he wouldn’t be so lucky as to run into another Thomas or Patrick to knock on Mr. Spider’s door in his place. 

****

On their weekly trip to the library, while his grandmother left him to explore around during her book club, Jon began his search. The kids section had a fair amount of non-fiction books about spiders, so Jon decided to start there. 

Pretty quickly he realized that none of the books discussed any species close to Mr. Spider’s size. He did learn a disturbing amount about how spiders capture and eat their prey though, which made Jon a bit queasy. 

He put the most promising-looking spider books to the side, and decided to try and find information about any evil, mind controlling books.

That was harder to search for, and he ended up asking one of the librarians. She had quirked an amused smile at him, the way adults often did when indulging Jon for asking for something a bit strange.

“Evil books, huh?” She gave a small laugh. “Well, we have plenty of scary stories over in the fiction section—”

“No, not scary stories.” Jon interrupted. “I need to know about books that have monsters inside them.” 

“Yes dear, plenty of monster stories!” She smiled brightly and gestured towards the shelves in question.

“No I mean…” Maybe if he worded it better... “Umm, how about books that  _ are  _ evil. Like, books that can control people!”

“Books that control people…?” She frowned down at Jon.    
  
“Yeah! Like once you start reading it, you can’t stop!! A-and it makes you go somewhere dangerous.” Oops, maybe he had said a bit too much. The librarian was looking at him strangely.

“Well, I suppose… I don’t know of any children's books about that, off the top of my head…” She frowned down at her desk “The closest I can think of would be  _ The King in Yellow _ . But that isn’t exactly kid-friendly reading.”

“Thanks!” Jon exclaimed, and quickly left the librarian at her desk, dismissing her quiet “Wait!” as he darted away. He knew how to use the computers to search, and now that he had a title, he didn’t want her to stop him from checking out the book. 

He found a copy after a little wandering around, unfamiliar with the number system upstairs in the grown-up part of the library. It was a thick book with a heavily worn cover, and Jon slipped it into his pile of spider books. Maybe this one would have some answers. 

He made his way back to the reading nook in the children’s section, and began reading another one of the spider books as he waited. About an hour later, his grandmother had come to collect him, still talking with one of her book club friends.

“Can we get these?” Jon asked, tugging at her sleeve as they walked towards the exit.

His grandmother glanced at the small pile in his arms, before turning back to her companion. “Yes, sure. We better go check out. I’ll talk to you soon, Angela!” 

Jon waved shyly at his grandmother’s friend as she ruffled his hair and said her goodbyes. Then he and his grandmother had brought their respective piles to the front desk. It was the same librarian that Jon had been asking about books before, and she paused when she was scanning the books for Jon to take home. 

“Are you sure about this book, Diya?” The librarian asked his grandmother tentatively, holding out  _ The King in Yellow. _ “It’s not for kids, and I wouldn’t want it to be too much for him.”

His grandmother waved a hand dismissively “Whatever he wants. He goes through books like they’re nothing. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.” She smiled awkwardly at Jon and finished checking them out. All their books went in a plastic bag that had “eye heart books” printed on it, which she handed over to Jon directly. “See you next week!”

****

Research, it turns out, was harder than he had thought. He had read through the spider books relatively quickly, and they hadn’t had much information about how to avoid spiders that would work on something Mr. Spider’s size. And it had been slow-going reading through the other book.

The King in Yellow was strange. It was filled with short stories about horrible things. Oddly though, the stories felt real. It almost felt like reading his own writing about meeting Mr. Spider. In the same way, it exhausted him to read each story, and he would have dreams about them at night. 

It didn’t contain much information about “evil books” though. But he could see why the librarian had thought of it -- it kept mentioning a play called The King in Yellow. Anyone that actually read the play would be driven mad. Is that what Mr. Spider was doing to Jon, slowly driving him crazy?

More annoyingly, the book didn’t have any information about how to escape from the madness! It seemed like the only way to avoid it was to never read the book in the first place. But it was too late for that with Jon…

He needed more information. The library hadn’t been very helpful, but maybe there were more ways to do research.

****

Jon hated participating in class, but his desperation for answers persuaded him to raise his hand during their science unit on Monday, much to the delight of his over-enthusiastic teacher. 

“Excellent question, Jonathan!” She ignored the eye roll he couldn’t help at her patronizing tone. “Research can be looking things up in books, or it can be a bit more hands on. First you make a hypothesis, which is something we believe is going to happen.”

Jon sighed under his breath. He knew what a hypothesis was. He was almost nine, not a baby. 

Ms. May, not noticing his expression, continued on. “Then you set up an experiment to test the hypothesis, and observe the outcome. If the outcome agrees with the hypothesis, it may be true! And if it doesn’t, then you make a new one and try again. But sometimes, you have to repeat the test many times - to make sure the observations are always the same.” 

_ A hypothesis _ . Jon scribbled in his notebook.  _ Testing, and observations. May have to repeat.  _

He frowned at the words, thinking, and zoned out the rest of his classmate’s babbling. He jumped as Ms. May called his name, asking if he had any more questions. He bit his lip and shook his head, not making eye contact. 

He could work with this. In his mind, a plan was beginning to form. 

****

When he got home, Jon made a list in his notebook of all the hypotheses he had about the book. The first one was easy, he had seen it with his own two eyes.

  * **There is a spider in the book.**



Did he really need to test that? But he supposed that the spider hadn’t appeared when he opened the first page. It hadn’t even snuck out from the pages when it was sitting on his bookshelf, waiting to be read. Instead it had waited until he was reading, lured him out of his neighborhood and to a specific door, which didn’t open until Thomas had knocked. This led him to his second hypothesis:

  * **If you knock on the door, a spider will eat you.**



He didn’t exactly know that Thomas or Patrick had been eaten, he hadn’t seen that happen. That was more due to his nightmares. But he couldn’t imagine that a book about a spider eating it’s guests would have any other ending. 

  * **Once you start reading the book, you can’t stop.**



...unless the book was forcibly taken from you, as had happened to him. Jon knew the sick feeling of compulsion, the feeling that had glued his eyes to the page, a hook pulling him forward towards that ominous door. But had the feeling begun when he started reading? Or had it begun as soon as the book was in his possession? He couldn’t seem to remember, and he didn’t feel safe not knowing. Why had it taken him, when his grandmother seemed to have no issue handling it?

  * **The book will follow you if you try to get rid of it**



Jon still didn’t know how the book was moving, but it had stayed put since he had left it in his closet, and hadn’t followed him to school during the day. So maybe his mistake was taking it out of the house in the first place? Or had it been the act of trying to throw it out?

  * **Mr. Spider wants to eat every few weeks**



The library books had taught him that spiders can go for weeks without food. But surely something that big needed food fairly often. Jon wondered if it could eat anything else, maybe an animal instead of a human. 

  * **If you don’t open the book, it is safe(?)**



Jon put a question mark next to this one. He certainly didn’t feel safe with the book shut, even wrapped tightly it had somehow attracted a bunch of spider webs. But his grandmother had been fine, and she had gotten it from a bookshop — it must have been safe for them there, where they hadn’t made his stupid mistake and opened it. Or…

  * **Adults can’t get taken by the spider(?)**



Another question mark. He, Patrick, and Thom were all young, it seemed silly to put an age limit on it, but he supposed it was a children’s book. Possibly Mr. Spider had a taste for children? It was a horrible thought that left Jon queasy. He shut his notebook and decided that was enough hypotheses for now. 

The next step would have to be experiments, which meant that he would have to possibly USE the BOOK again. Jon shuttered at the thought. Maybe he hadn’t thought this through. There was  _ no way _ he was going to willingly read that book, even if it was his last option. Even without experimenting, he’s pretty sure he knew how it would turn out. 

Maybe he just needed to do more of the traditional, read-about-it research at the library. Never mind that none of the books he had found were helpful for him, beyond adding to his fear that maybe he was going mad. UGH, this book is so STUPID!

He threw himself backwards on his bed, and stared up at his ceiling. Was that…?

In the corner of his ceiling, making a tiny web, was a little spider. Jon just stared at it, too numb to feel any emotions at its appearance. It seemed too topical not to be related to the book in his closet, but it was such a little thing. Maybe it would be okay to let just this one make its web, it wasn’t hurting Jon at all. At least not yet.

Maybe he did need to run experiments. How else would he stop being suspicious of every tiny house spider or dust bunny in his room.

What if… he didn’t run the experiment on himself? It was hard to make Observations if he was the one getting compelled along, but when Thomas had been the one reading… he was able to follow him and watch what had happened. 

When Patrick was reading too, he was less scared and had been able to see when the compulsion to read and walk had taken hold. He had even noticed the strange reactions of his classmates. He couldn’t tell any of that when  _ he _ was the one doing the reading.

Really, it was the only option that made sense - he would have to run the experiment to get information. He needed information to keep himself safe. And if that meant observing how the book interacted with others, well - it was a trade off, just to keep himself safe. There wasn’t anyone else looking out for him, and if he didn’t do something, Mr. Spider would get him too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am kind of implying that the short stories in The King in Yellow are all true statements that somehow got published lol. 
> 
> Good luck with your "Experiments" Jon, I'm sure they can only go well!!


	5. Chapter 5

Jon decided he could be certain of his first three hypotheses. He had seen people become ensnared by the book twice already, and had no desire to waste a test confirming what he already knew. 

He was much more concerned with the hypotheses that could directly affect his safety: is it really impossible to get rid of the book without it following you? Could the spider go longer than three weeks without eating? Are adults affected by the book - could he escape it when he grew up? And was it safe to even have the book in his closet?

It would be hard to prove any of these things. How can he test what would happen, without putting himself or his grandmother at risk? He needed to design an experiment in a way that he would be able to take useful observations as well…

Overall, it was an easy choice for a first test. He didn’t want to let the book hurt any more people if he could help it, and it was nearing the three-week mark since Mr. Spider’s last meal. He hoped it wouldn’t end in a disaster for him, but he would see what the book did if he just left it safely shut inside his closet. 

He took out his notebook and started writing the details of the experiment, just like he had been taught in science class. 

_ Hypothesis: Mr. Spider wants a meal approx. every 3 weeks _

_ Experiment: I will leave the book shut inside my closet for 1 week following the 3-week mark of it’s last meal. Each day I will check on the book and make observations. If no change after 1 week, I will extend the length of the experiment and continue to observe.  _

_ Prediction: Based on the last time I ignored the book, it may begin following me around in an attempt to be read by someone.  _

_ Observations:  _

_ Monday _ _ \- Book has stayed in closet all day. Appears normal, though spider on cover is skinnier than I remember _

__ __ _ Tuesday - _

__ __ _ Wednesday - _

__ __ _ Thursday - _

__ __ _ Friday -  _

__ __ _ Saturday -  _

__ __ _ Sunday -  _

_ Results: _ __   
  


Jon left the rest of the Observations and Results section blank for now. He would continue to fill it in as the week went on. He wasn’t very optimistic about the outcome, and was worried what would happen if it DID end up following him around. 

Mr. Spider would have to eat something eventually, and Jon didn’t want it to be him. 

So, he planned another experiment. So far, he had only seen the spider take humans, but what if it could eat other animals too? Jon felt terrible thinking it, but his neighbor had a small dog that Jon was allowed to play with in the park sometimes. Maxie was a good dog, but it felt like a better option than letting another one of his classmates get taken.

He flipped the page and began another entry:

_ Hypothesis: Mr. Spider can eat any type of animal, not just humans. _

_ Experiment: I will show Maxie the book, and open it/turn the pages for him.  _

_ Prediction: Maxie will become compelled by the book (scratch at the door?) and will get taken by Mr. Spider. _

_ Observations:  _

_ Results:  _

Did that make him a horrible person? Jon thought of Maxie and shut his eyes, shoving his notebook back under his pillow.  _ It's him or another kid.  _ Jon thought.  _ It's him or me. _

Overhead, the little spider in the corner of his room weaved its web a tiny bit larger.

_ **** _

The next two days, the book seemed content to stay peacefully in Jon’s closet. He was hopeful for a moment that Mr. Spider might not have such a strict appetite. 

But when Thursday rolled around, and Jon found the Mr. Spider book inside his backpack at school, he knew things were about to get tricky. He zipped it in tightly, and ignored it. It didn’t make any appearances until the next day, when it was suddenly mixed in with all his school books in his desk. 

He was nervous, but still felt relatively safe until he went to bed that night. He had the strangest dream again, and when he woke up he noticed immediately that he was NOT in his bed.

Instead, he had somehow sleep walked over to the closet, taken out the evil book, and had awoken with his hands gripping the front cover, about to turn the first page. 

As soon as he realized, he threw the book across the room from himself, adrenaline surging through his veins. He watched it warily for a moment, before gingerly returning it to the box in his closet.

Then he grabbed his notebook and began to fill in his observations. This was far too close, he would have to move on to experiment number two if he didn’t want to get eaten. He resolved not to fall back asleep that night. 

_ Observations:  _

_ Monday _ _ \- Book has stayed in closet all day. Appears normal, though spider on cover is skinnier than I remember _

__ __ _ Tuesday _ _ \- Book still in closet, no issues. Cover appears the same. _

__ __ _ Wednesday _ _ \- No changes _

_ Thursday _ _ \- Book appeared in my backpack at school. But when I got home and checked, it was somehow still in my closet? _

_ Friday _ _ \- Book followed me around at school - inside my desk and mixed in with my workbooks. Lucky no one saw it besides me. Spider on book appears hungry _

_ Saturday _ _ \- LAST NIGHT I ALMOST READ THE BOOK IN MY SLEEP. Need to  _ _ end experiment early - too dangerous.  _

__ __ _ Sunday _ _ \- N/A _

_ Results: The book lasted approx 30 days since it’s last meal before beginning to follow me around, and two days after that it was somehow able to compel me in my sleep. If I hadn't woken up when I did, I’m sure I would be gone right now. Need to feed Mr. Spider somehow ASAP! _

****

Jon refused to fall back asleep that night, convinced that if he tried, he would end up opening the book again. So it was a very long 3 hours later, once the sun had begun to rise, that he finally strayed out to the common area to await his grandmother.

She shuffled into their kitchenette in her robe, surprised to see Jon awake before her.

“You’re up early.” She bustled around to pull out a filter paper and the jar of coffee grounds. “Couldn’t sleep?” 

“I think I had a nightmare.” Jon said, shrugging. “I couldn’t get back to bed.”

“Hmm.” His grandmother filled up the coffee maker and flipped the switch to let it brew. “Maybe you can go to bed early tonight. You look like a racoon with those dark circles.”

Jon lifted his hand to his cheek self consciously. “I was wondering if I could ask Ms. Thompson to play with Maxie today?”

“I guess it would be good for you to get outside.” She turned around to face him, hip resting on the counter. “I just don’t know why you don’t play with any kids your own age Jon. A boy like you should be running around with friends, not shut in with books all day.”

Jon looked down at his hands. He had heard this conversation enough, he didn’t want to talk about it right now. He had bigger things to worry about.

His grandmother realized he wasn’t going to respond, and sighed. “Fine, you can ask Mrs. Thompson. But it’s much too early now. Wait until 10:30 at least, give the poor woman some time to enjoy her morning.”

Jon nodded seriously. He didn’t like this plan or this experiment. But he didn’t have a choice. 

“And that gives you time to shower and clean yourself up. Put on something that  _ wasn’t  _ lying in a heap on your floor, please.” His grandmother poked impatiently at the handle of the coffee pot, where the last bits of liquid were making their slow way through. “Oh, and I'm going to the show with Kathy tomorrow, I meant to tell you. You’ll have to stay with Norah.”

Jon grimaced at the news. Norah Kent was one of their neighbors - for the past few years, she had watched Jon whenever his grandmother had to go out for the evening. But he and Norah had never really gotten along.

She didn’t care for Jon, and made no secret of it. She complained about his behavior to his Grandmother every time, trying to wheedle a few extra quid out of her for her troubles. 

Each visit resulted in Jon breaking some arbitrary rule he had not been made aware of, and being punished with insults, or lack of dinner. She had even swiped at him more than once, and his Grandmother had shrugged at him and told him to behave himself better when he had finally gathered his courage to tell her. 

“Couldn’t I just stay here?” Jon asked petulantly. “I’m almost nine, I’m old enough!”

“Hah!” his grandmother scoffed. “You get into enough trouble for an ‘almost nine’ year-old. Now go wash up, I’m making porridge for breakfast.”

She poured herself a cup of coffee and shooed him out of the kitchen — Jon tiredly marched off to take a shower, anxiously going over his plan for the experiment.

****

Ms. Thompson opens the door a few moments after Jon hesitantly knocks. She has lived across the hall for longer than Jon has been alive, and was one of the few people he knew that tolerated him as well as his grandmother.

“Good Morning Ms. Thompson” Jon forces a wobbly smile, feeling like a monster. “I was wondering if I could take Maxie out on a walk…”

“Hello Jon dear!” Ms. Thompson gave him a gap-toothed grin. “I think Maxie has been missing you! Come on in and I’ll get his leash.”

He stepped inside her apartment, which had that particular powdery-scent of old-lady perfume. All of the apartment was decorated in sea-foam green and a mauve-pink color, with multiple angel figurines staring at Jon from the front table. 

Maxie was a white yorkshire terrier, old enough to have grown mellow. Ms. Thompson walked him on his lead over to Jon waiting in the front hall. 

“Now, you stay in the park, alright?” She handed over the leash, a minor tremble in her old hands. “And make sure you clean up after him if he makes any messes, no littering, you hear me?” 

“Yes ma’am.” Jon looked down at Maxie, who was panting, relaxed, at his feet. He could feel dread and guilt pooling in his stomach, and refused to meet her gaze.

He almost finished back when he felt a hand ruffling his hair. “This is getting long, young man. You tell Diya that we can’t have you looking like a young lady out there.”

“...yes ma’am.” Jon repeated, frowning. He liked his hair the way it was. But he felt guilty already, and she was old. No point in arguing. “Come on, Maxie.”

He straightened out his hair and said goodbye to Ms. Thompson. 

“We’ll be back soon!” He lied as he carefully maneuvered Maxie out of her front door. The click it made shutting behind them sounded awful and ominous, but Jon stood tall as he led Maxie to the rickety elevator.

****

Jon wanted to let Maxie have as much fun as possible before showing him the book. It was too lovely a day out to have such a horrible plan. He played fetch, gave him belly rubs, and let him play with any of the other dogs they came across. 

Eventually, the anxiety buzzing in the back of Jon’s mind wouldn’t let him delay it any longer. Mr. Spider had to eat, and he had put it off long enough.

He led Maxie to a small copse of trees, away from the path and the field where people were laying out sunbathing. 

“Alright, Maxie, sit!” The dog obeyed, looking at Jon with his tongue lolling out of his mouth. 

Jon sighed and took off his backpack, unzipping it to take out  _ A Guest for Mr. Spider. _ The figure on the cover definitely looked skinnier and hungrier than it had earlier in the week, he was certain of it now. 

“Okay boy, here, I need you to look at this.” He held out the book to the dog, who sniffed at the front cover curiously. “Yeah, good boy.” 

Maxie thumped his tail at the praise, and Jon felt even worse. 

“Okay, just keep looking at the book now.” Jon said softly, opening the book so that Maxie could see the first page. He sniffed at it once, and looked up at Jon.

“No boy, look here.” Jon snapped his fingers and pointed at the book, where Maxie returned his gaze. 

“Good.” Jon coaxed as he flipped to the second page. He slowly leafed through pages, but soon enough Maxie got distracted by some other dogs barking in the distance.

Jon watched Maxie turn his head away in confusion. He didn’t seem to be getting compelled by the book…? Patrick had been sucked in by the first two pages at least. 

He brought the dog’s attention back, and continued to slowly leaf through the book, until he was surprised to have reached the end — Maxie no worse for wear. 

“What…?” Jon inspected the book in wonder. It still looked exactly the same, the spider on the cover still omitting the same evil, hungry energy. “It must not work on dogs… does it have to be read? Does it only work on humans…?”

Jon was snapped out of his musing by Maxie pulling at the leash, attempting to run off after a squirrel. He stopped frowning at the book in his hands, and stuffed it back into his backpack. 

“Come on Maxie, let's go home…” Jon barely watched where he was going, letting his feet guide him back to their apartment building while thinking furiously. 

It hadn’t worked. It  _ hadn’t worked. _ Mr. Spider was still hungry. And Jon didn’t think he could stay up another night without sleep — it would  _ get him in his sleep.  _ He had to DO something. 

But what could he do?? The only other option seemed to be giving Mr. Spider another one of his classmates - and it wasn’t even a school day! But no, more important than that, he shouldn’t allow any more humans to get eaten. Including him.

He had to think. He had to get back. He had to  _ write _ the results of his experiment. Maybe his observations would allow him to figure out a way to get around this fate. 

He barely spoke a word to Ms. Thompson as he gave Maxie back to her, and she seemed surprised with the way he practically ran out of her apartment. But he was making a b-line for his notebook. 

_ Observations: Dog sniffed/looked at book, but it did not grab his attention. He was easily distracted by others in park. He appears normal, in fine health. Book still feels hungry. _

_ Results: Maxie was not compelled by the book, and nothing happened, no spiders showed up even when I reached the last page. Maybe because dogs can’t read... It might be different if i read the book out loud to him, but I don’t want to risk reading the book again.  _

Would  _ reading the book aloud _ to an animal work? Perhaps it has to be read by someone that understands english. Perhaps the animal would have to turn the pages itself? Or perhaps it really only does work on humans, wouldn’t that be terrible. 

Jon didn’t know if he could sacrifice another classmate. Thom and Patrick had been accidents, but now that he knew how dangerous the book was, he couldn’t imagine giving it to someone else, knowing what would happen to them. 

“Jon?” His grandmother knocked on his door, and he hurried to shove his notebook and pencil back into hiding. 

“Yeah?” he sat up to face her as she walked inside, carrying a glass of water.

“Here, I brought you some allergy meds. I know last time I went out you were sneezing all day from Norah’s new cat.” She placed the cup and two small pills down on his nightstand. “How was Ms. Thompson?”

Jon’s brain was running 100 kilometers and hour. “Good, she was good.” His babysitter had a cat. “She said I need a haircut.” 

“Hmmph!” His grandmother sniffed. “Sounds like Ms. Thompson, alright. Hope you had fun with Maxie at least.”

“Yeah, he was a good dog.” Jon answered mechanically. Jon’s babysitter, who he did not like, was an adult. No adults had been taken by the book yet. Maybe they were safe. 

“Well, try not to nap too much today even if you’re sleepy. It’ll only make it harder to sleep tonight, you early riser!” She chuckled and patted his arm. “Take one of those now, and then you can have the other tomorrow morning. Won’t be sneezing this time!”

“Yeah,” Jon grinned. “This time we have a plan.”

As soon as his grandmother was out the door, Jon was scribbling furiously in his notebook. He had a new experiment. He just needed one more night of not sleeping, and he would be safe. This one would work, he was sure of it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, your experiments don't turn out the way you expect them too. But that's okay as long as you keep recording your results. Yes, meticulously written, near obsessive writing about all your supernatural encounters and experiment results.
> 
> (also author is a dog fan and i can't have anything happen to maxie!!)


	6. Chapter 6

**_Hypothesis_ ** _ : Mr. Spider can eat any type of animal, not just humans - but they have to hear the words, not just see the pictures. And Adults aren’t(?) affected by the book. _

**_Experiment_ ** _ : I will get Norah to read the book out loud while her cat is in the room. I might have to hold the cat so it can see the pages. _

**_Prediction_ ** _ : Norah is an adult, so she may be safe from the book. The cat will see the pages and hear the words, so may become enthralled/eaten by mister spider.  _

_ Observations:  _

_ Results:  _

Jon barely made it through the night. He was already sleep deprived, but he knew that if he went to bed, there was a good chance he would sleepwalk to the book again and start reading. Mr. Spider was too hungry to leave him alone, even though he had once again fixed the book shut with binder clips.

So, Jon was pulling an all-nighter. He “went to bed” precisely at 9:30 like his Grandmother wanted, but had a flashlight to use under his covers to help him stay awake. Plus, he could use the time to carefully design his next experiment. He wasn’t sure if he was allowed to test two hypotheses at the same time, but  _ he  _ certainly wasn’t going to be the person to read aloud. 

At around 3AM, Jon found himself struggling to keep his eyes open. He tried pinching himself, and even staring directly into the flashlight’s light, but nothing helped. His usual favorite books were boring him, he was too tired to focus, and his head was starting to hurt. 

Jon paced around his room, pressing palms into his eyes to help relieve the pain, when he suddenly stubbed his toe on something in his path.

“Aaah!” He hissed quietly and lowered his hands to glare at the offender. It was  _ the  _ book, of course. Jon turned to find his closet door opened, and saw a few small black spiders scurrying back inside.

“So that’s how you’ve been moving…” he hummed, looking from the spiders to the book. Was he going mad now, talking to the evil thing? “You have your little friends carry you around.”

_ A Guest for Mr. Spider _ did not respond. It was a book. 

“I wonder how you’d react if I put pesticide all over you. I think we have some ant spray in the kitchen.” Jon glared at the book again, daring it to do something as it continued to sit silently. He knew it was an empty threat. Any thoughts of destroying or harming the book made him feel physically ill. He decided not to think too hard about what that reaction meant.

He sighed. “I really am going crazy. But I’m not sure if it’s from you or from lack of sleep.” A quick glance towards the clock showed that only 15 minutes had gone by since he last checked. Ugh. Jon hated the taste of coffee, much preferring tea, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

“Stay here!” he said pointing a stern finger at the book, which again had no response. He sighed at the futility of telling it not to move, and looked up at the spider in the corner of his room instead. “Tell it to stay here. I’m coming back.” 

For some reason, he didn’t use as harsh a tone when speaking to the little spider. He still thought it was creepy, but it didn’t feel as ominous or threatening as the book did. He pried open his bedroom door and looked both ways down the hall. The apartment was dark and quiet, with no sign of his Grandmother. All clear.

He padded slowly down the hall to their kitchenette, making sure to avoid the squeaky bits of the floor. He didn’t want to risk turning a light on, so just carefully pulled out a chair and climbed on it to reach the top cupboard where the coffee grounds were kept. 

Jon had watched his Grandmother make coffee a thousand times, but he had never really paid enough attention to it, so he ended up guessing at how much water to put in. He couldn’t remember where she kept the coffee filters either, so he decided to just dump out the old grounds and reuse the same dirty one from the prior morning. He thought about it a moment, and decided to add three scoops of grounds to the machine. That seemed about right, but maybe if he added one more it would be extra-strong and help keep him awake? He added another generous spoonful, and closed the lid. Luckily the “on” button was hard to miss, so Jon zoned out and waited for it to be ready. 

The water heated up and started brewing. Jon felt a small amount of pride at getting it to work on the first try. But  _ unluckily _ for him, he also forgot the loud gurgling sound the coffee machine make as it drips down into the pot. It was almost similar to the last bits of water being sucked down a bathtub, and twice as loud. He jolted out of his sleepy trance and waved his hands around the machine frantically.

“No no no no, be quiet!!” Jon whispered at it, looking around for a way to muffle the sound. There was really nothing he could use, and he was certain that talking to it wasn’t going to help.

“Shhhhhh!” He jabbed the power button again to turn it off, and sighed in relief as the sound stopped. He took the pitifully filled pot out of the machine, and looked down the hall towards his Grandmother’s room, waiting for her to come yelling. 

Three deep breaths later, and still no sound from his Grandmother. Phew. He glared at the machine for a bit, then carefully and quietly took a mug down from the high shelf. He poured the coffee he had been able to get into the mug — it only filled it up about a third of the way. Oh well, better something than nothing. It was going to be yucky anyway.

Jon carefully set everything in the kitchen back to the way it had been, and quietly made it back to his room.  _ Mr. Spider  _ was still on the floor where he had left it, and there were no signs of the little closet spiders anywhere nearby. 

He gave the spider in his corner a tentative thumbs up in thanks, even though he felt silly doing so. Had it even helped? If it was one of the book’s henchmen, he probably should get rid of it instead of talking to it, but he was too tired to do anything about it now. 

He didn’t want to risk falling asleep by being in his bed, so Jon sat down cross-legged on the floor and took a small sip of his coffee. He grimaced, and wrinkled up his nose immediately. This was even worse than the last time he had tried it! He would drink it though, hopefully it would help him stay awake. Adults were weird, this stuff was disgusting. 

*****

The next afternoon, a very cranky Jon was dropped off at Norah’s doorstep. He had a crick in his neck, a pounding headache, and he was so, so exhausted. The coffee had helped a bit, but he was sure he would never get the taste out of his mouth.  _ Yuck.  _

He shifted from foot to foot as he waited for the small talk to be over, his Grandmother’s voice only driving his headache further. He was in such a bad mood that he wasn’t even nervous about his experiment anymore, he just wanted to get it over with.

Norah had barely spared him a glance — he was a surly child and the dark circles were hardly anything new. She was a short woman with messy, curly auburn hair, and had never really taken an interest in Jon, preferring that he keep to himself. His Grandmother confirmed when she would be back to pick him up, and left without saying goodbye. 

Norah rolled her eyes as she closed the door behind her. “Listen kid, my nephew is coming over in an hour, and I don’t want you bothering him, alright?” She met his eyes, moving past him into her apartment. “He’s such a sweet kid, so you had better be on your best behavior. Okay?”.

John was surprised - he hadn’t known she had a nephew. More importantly, this could put a wrench in his experiment plans. He nodded, avoiding eye contact. Somehow he would have to work this in with his experiment, there was no way he could last another day without sleep. 

“Good. Now, feel free to entertain yourself, but keep it down, I’m watching tv.” Norah turned back around on the couch, and turned up the volume on her reality show.

Jon sat on the carpet behind the couch, and gripped the edges of  _ Mr. Spider  _ nervously. He had brought the book of course, but he hadn’t planned on anyone else being here during the experiment. The cat was lounging on the windowsill in Norah’s kitchen, orange fur bright in the sun. Jon stared at it and thought about his plan. 

This would definitely change things. He would have to get Norah and the cat alone, and persuade her to read the book out loud. Hopefully the nephew wouldn’t want to read it too. 

But if… if the cat was like Maxie, and didn’t get caught by the book, then Mr. Spider wouldn’t eat. If his hypothesis about adults was right, then the book wouldn’t catch Norah either and Jon would be the last person available for Mr. Spider, who was hungry. So … maybe it could be a good thing if the nephew wanted to read it too. 

Jon felt a mixture of dread and... a little  _ excitement  _ pool in his stomach. 

He didn’t know how to feel about the thought. Why on earth was he excited???

He didn’t know the kid, so it was better than giving the book to one of his classmates, right? Jon wasn’t sure, he felt uneasy and guilty, and it was mixing with his headache, making it even harder to think. He didn’t like Norah, so this nephew probably wouldn’t be very nice either, so maybe it really would be better him than Jon. 

No. No one needs to get hurt. He clenched his eyes shut and focused on his goal. Just the cat! No one else needs to get caught up in this. He opened his eyes and refocused on the orange cat in the window, narrowing his gaze. He could make it without hurting anyone. 

**** 

Soon enough, the buzzer at the door rang, and Norah went to answer it with a large smile. 

Jon watched with large eyes from his place on the carpet while she hugged the woman who had come through the door, and fussed over a toddler in the new woman’s arms. “Evelyn!! It’s been too long, love, you look like you could use a break!”

A baby. Oh, God... Jon felt even more guilty for his previous thoughts. He fought back a flinch when the toddler smiled and clumsily waved at his aunt.

“Oh, every day is a joy with this one Norah, you know how it is!” The new woman, Evelyn, laughed. She looked a lot like her sister, and the kid had their same red hair. 

“I’m sure. Come here Chrisopher, that’s a boy, have you missed your Aunt Norah?” She took the little one in her arms and bounced him a bit as he giggled and nodded. 

“And who is this young man, Norah?” Evelyn smiled fondly at her sister and gestured at Jon, who still had a slightly panicked expression on his face. He hugged the book even tighter to his chest and stepped back from the guests. 

“Oh that’s the neighbor’s boy Jon, I'm looking after him. He’s a bit shy. Come on Jon, say hello!” Norah turned and glared a bit at him when he said nothing, so Jon gave Evelyn a tentative wave. 

She smiled gently at him and turned back to her sister “Well, good, little Chris can have a playdate tonight! Thanks so much again, I know this is last minute.”

Norah gave Chris another bounce and laughed. “Don’t worry about it, I miss this little guy. Have a great time tonight!”

“Thanks so much love. His bedtime’s at 8pm, he starts getting hyper around 7 sometimes so look out for that. He loves stories so usually he will fall asleep after a few…” She sweeps the toddler’s hair off his forehead. “Oh shoot — I had meant to bring a picture book or two for you, but I was running late.”

_ A picture book. _

Jon froze. He felt numb, and then he was speaking before he even knew it.

“Miss Norah,” he said breathlessly, more polite than he ever had been in his life. Both women turned to him. “I brought a book from home, it was one of my favorites as a kid. Maybe you could read that to him?” 

“Oh! Aren’t you a sweet thing Jon!” Evelyn clapped her hands delightedly, and Jon’s stomach dropped as Chris laughed again. 

Norah looked a bit more skeptical. “I don’t know if it will be toddler-appropriate, Jon.”

“Oh don’t worry, it’s a picture book” His voice was a notch too high, and he was shaking a bit from adrenaline.  _ What was he doing?? _ “It's called  _ A Guest for Mr. Spider, _ and he has a bunch of other bugs over for tea. He’ll like it!” Jon lied through his teeth and gave a shaky smile, keeping his eyes wide and earnest. 

Norah blinked at him, but Evelyn loved it. “Oh doesn’t that sound nice, Christopher! I’m sure you’d love to read it with Aunt Norah and Jon!” She kissed the toddler’s head and turned back to Norah. “I’ll be back at ten tomorrow. Have fun!!”

She bustled out the door, singing goodbyes. Christopher gave another clumsy wave from his perch in Norah’s arms.

When the door was shut, Norah turned back to him. “Have you really got that book?”

Jon held it up, in a white-knuckled grip. Norah glanced it over.

“Huh. Okay. Well, keep yourself occupied, and I’ll let you know when we need it.” She bounced the child again and went back to her couch.

Jon nodded and just stood there for a moment, numb. What was he thinking!?

His heart was rushing, and he felt torn in half. On one hand he was horrified. This was an easy way to get Norah to read the book aloud. He could make sure the cat was in the room at the same time. His experiment could go on. But he didn’t want to put a little kid at risk! It had to be the book, working it’s evil magic on him. There’s no way that Jon wanted to hurt him. There’s no way he would have suggested something so dangerous by himself… is there?

On the other hand… He had  _ done  _ that. He had convinced her to read the book, and it had been shockingly easy… the adrenaline in his veins wasn’t only in dread. He knew that he was pleased she agreed so easily, and that he was even feeling anticipation for what was about to come. Was the book turning him evil?? Was he becoming as much of a monster as Mr. Spider?

He took a deep breath and looked at the cover of the book. He thought about what he knew. The spider was hungry. It was already trying to get Jon to read it, and he was scared. But was he scared enough to suggest something so horrible? He looked back at Norah, playing with Chris on the couch. They looked so happy and carefree, and all of a sudden Jon felt a hot flash of jealousy creeping up inside him.

He thought about himself, with no friends besides books at school, sleepless nights, a grandmother who only tolerated him, and parents he couldn’t even remember. It sounded a bit pathetic, but he was doing alright! He was smart, and he was going to become someone respected one day. He didn’t need whatever it was that Christopher had with Evelyn. But it still hurt to see him so happy with his aunt and mother. 

So, he was jealous. A little angry. His head hurt. He didn’t think about his parents often, and his thoughts were still all scrambled from last night. Jon had to focus on the experiment. The cat, and keeping himself safe. Maybe he would be able to keep Chris safe. As long as he got information, he had a fighting chance of staying safe from the spider. 

Having calmed himself, Jon returned to his spot on the floor, listening with half an ear as Norah was baby-talking to her nephew. Could he talk yet? Jon didn’t know much about kids, and he didn’t think Chris was more than 2 years old. Just an innocent kid, who hasn’t done anything wrong. 

  
Well, Jon was an innocent kid too. At least, he didn’t think he had done anything wrong  _ yet _ . Maybe that would change tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Jon definitely does not know how to make coffee. And sleep deprivation may lead to bad decisions....


	7. Chapter 7

It felt like only a few minutes had passed, Jon’s thoughts racing, but soon enough it was time for Chris’s bed time. 

“Okay little, man. Lets get you ready for sleep, huh?” Norah cooed at the child and held his hands as he took stumbling steps towards the bedroom. “Jon has a nice book for us, come on now.”

“Miss Norah,” Jon held back, gripping  _ Mr. Spider _ tightly. “Can we bring your cat too? I want to pet him, and I think Chris will like him too.”

Norah tilted her head at Jon. “I thought you were allergic to cats…”

“Oh, don’t worry, my Grandma gave me some medication this time.” Jon tried for a smile. “It’s why I really want to pet him.”

“Hmmm.” Norah looked back at Christopher. “Do we want Mr. Pumpkin to read with us?”

Chris gave a shriek of delight. “Pumpkin!!!! Kitty!!!!”

“I guess that’s a yes!” Norah lifted the toddler up into her arms as they made it to the bedroom. “Lets get you into bed, then I can get Mr. Pumpkin to sit with us, okay? Here, Jon, you sit in this chair with me, and we can all see the pictures.”

Jon hovered in the doorway as she tucked Chris into her bed. She didn’t have a crib of course, but she had put safety-rails along each side of the bed so that it was child-safe. A plush chair sat next to the bed, where Jon was expected to sit on Norah’s lap. No thank you. He didn’t want to risk looking at the inside of the book.

“That’s okay, I don’t think the chair is big enough. I want to color while you read.” Jon tried to be as polite as he could.

Norah frowned at him, but shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She left the room and returned a moment later with her disgruntled looking cat.

“Here’s Pumpkin!!!” She sang as she placed him in the bed next to Chris.

“Kitty!!” Chris flung his hands towards the cat, who backed up and licked itself a few times to regain its dignity. 

“Be nice and gentle Chris, see?” Norah held his little hand and guided a few soft strokes on the cat’s fur. “Jon, did you want to pet him too?”

“Yes please.” Jon walked to the far side of the bed, and gave the cat a few long strokes. He was soft and warm, and blinked at Jon with big green eyes. He had never pet a cat before, but Pumpkin seemed content with the attention and started purring. He deliberately did not let himself look into Chris’ face, but he could hear a soft gasp and giggle as the purring began.

“Good kitty” Chris babbled in a softer voice and gave a clumsy, but gentle pat to Pumpkin’s head. 

Jon had to get out of there before he lost his nerve. “Here!!” He said in a bit-too-loud voice, thrusting the book in Norah’s direction. “I’m just — I want to go color.”

As soon as she took the book, Jon was tripping over his feet to get out of the room. His head hurt, his stomach hurt with dread, and his hands were a bit shaky. 

Norah frowned at him again. “Jon, are you—”

“I’m good!!! I’ll behave, don’t worry!” Jon laughed breathlessly and felt a little delirious as he zipped out the door and shut it with a bang behind him.

His breath was coming fast, and he wanted to throw up. They were in there with the book now, there was no turning back. He wanted to scream and yell at them to drop it, but at the same time he knew that Mr. Spider NEEDED a meal today, and he didn’t want it to be him. 

He held his breath and squinched his eyes shut, then slowly let all the air out of his lungs. He needed to stay alert, he had to see how the experiment would play out.

****

When he felt a little less shaky, Jon straightened up, and pressed his ear against the door. He could hear the toddler babbling, and Norah chattering about the book. They mustn’t have opened it yet.

“Okay darling, now we’ve got your jammies on!” She sounded cheerful, before a small yowl interrupted her. “Nooo, we’re being gentle with the kitty, remember? Let’s have your bedtime story, yeah? Look at the … cute ... spider!”

Norah gave a quieter, disapproving murmur. “Of course that kid would have creepy taste.” She switched back to her cheery tone “Look love! Let’s see what happens.” 

Jon heard the sweep of the first page opening. He listened intently as Norah started to read aloud, and heard Chris stop fussing and fall silent. 

Another quiet sweep of a page turn, and Norah’s cheerful tone began to dim. A third, and her words were completely monotonous.

Then the chair creaked, and Jon could hear the muffled sound of footsteps approach the door. 

It swung open revealing Norah, half-frowning in concentration as she read, eyes locked on the page in front of her. 

Jon looked up at her, shocked. The book  _ worked  _ on  _ adults _ !? That didn’t make any sense!! His Grandmother had been in the house with it this whole time, she had even leafed through it when she bought it for him, and she had never been affected by it. Why was Norah different?

Mr. Pumpkin darted out of the room, winding around his owner’s legs before making his way back to the kitchen and his food dish. The cat looked totally unbothered. So much for his “any animals” hypothesis. 

John sighed and rubbed at his temples as his headache throbbed again. Science was STUPID!!! Were all his hypotheses wrong??? How in the world was he supposed to stay safe if he couldn’t get anything right? As Norah turned to the next page and continued her slow walk through the apartment, Jon darted his head inside the bedroom to check on Chris.

The toddler was standing up, hands on the edge of the safety rail, with a glazed expression on his face as he stared after Norah and the book. Jon knew that expression well, and it was obvious the child wanted to follow after them. 

Luckily, it seemed the safety rails were enough to keep him in the bed. Jon felt relief course through him. He didn’t want a baby to get hurt. He shut the door to the bedroom firmly behind him anyway, as an added precaution, as he turned his attention back to Norah.

****

Jon was more prepared this time, and had his notebook and pencil in-hand so he could write down observations in real time. He trailed her as she walked out of her apartment and started down the carpeted hallway.   
  
_ Norah is reading aloud, even when walking. No one in building seems to react to the sound. Left apartment immediately, did not close the door behind her. Is able to press correct elevator buttons.  _

He was surprised when instead of heading down to the lobby, Norah made for the closest elevator and pressed “RF”, for the roof of the building. He scratched out his previous note.

_ Presses random buttons in lift? Going to roof. _

The rickety elevator in their building was notoriously slow, and Jon began to feel very worried about being in such a small, enclosed space with her. Her continued monotonous reading was creeping him out, and he didn’t know what he would do if she reached the end of the book with him so close by. 

And was he in danger of being ensnared just from listening to her reading aloud? He clasped his hands over his ears at the thought, and began humming a nonsense song to drown her out. His eyes jumped between Norah’s sedate expression, the picture book in her hands, and the elevator doors. 

When the doors dinged open to the roof access, Jon darted out of the elevator and put a good few meters between himself and Norah. He slowly lowered his hands and looked around, shivering.

He had never been on the rooftop before. It was mostly a flat gray surface, but there was a brick wall around the perimeter of the building, providing a small safety measure for anyone that got too close to the edge. The roof was dirty, and there were dull metal vents sticking up out of the roof in several places. The vents, the elevator entrance, and a small storage shed were all that provided shelter from the wind. 

Norah looked unbothered by the cold, though neither Jon nor her had coats or shoes on. Even as the wind whipped her hair in her face, she continued to read. 

The pages of Jon’s notebook caught in the gust too, but he tamed them as he wrote down another observation.   
  
_ Can continue reading book even when she can’t see the page??  _

He blew on his fingers a bit to warm them and pushed his own hair out of his face as he watched Norah. Still spooked from the closeness in the elevator, and also wary of the edges of the roof, he stayed near the lift and watched from a distance. 

She walked a trancelike circuit around the perimeter of the roof as she turned pages. When the wind blew too many pages forward in the book, somehow she still kept reading the correct text on the pages she had missed. 

Eventually, she walked towards the small tool shed, and flipped to the final page. Jon felt terribly exposed, there was nothing to hide behind here, and as Norah knocked, he gripped his notebook and pencil in preparation for Mr. Spider.

****

_ Door opened on its own after knock, Norah did not turn handle. Spider larger than door(?) only put 2 legs through. Can’t tell what is behind him.  _

Jon scribbled furiously, casting glances between Mr. Spider and his notebook as Norah was embraced by its spindly dark legs. It holds her there for a moment, and Jon is stuck looking into its eight, glittery eyes as Norah comes back to herself with a shriek. 

The eye contact is horrible. Jon stops writing and backs away from the spider, feeling very small. He presses his back into the elevator doors as the spider holds eye contact a moment longer, before Norah is pulled inside. It’s over.

However, this time the door does not shut behind Mr. Spider. Jon is able to hear an echo of Norah’s shouting, and a clicking, chittering sound coming from inside the door. It is dark, but he thinks he is able to make out layers of cobwebs inside. He is almost tempted to step forward to take a closer look, but he feels the elevator doors begin to slide open behind him.

****

Jon stumbled away from the lift doors quickly, dropping his notebook and pencil in fright. His head whipped back and forth as he looked nervously between Mr. Spider’s looming doorway and the elevator as the doors slide open, revealing… Christopher.

The toddler stood on wobbly feet and swayed side-to-side a bit as he stepped forwards onto the roof with a glazed expression on his face.

_ WHAT. _

Jon stares at the child in dread. Chris had been safe in his bed! He can’t have gotten out! He’s not even tall enough to push the elevator buttons!? And he didn’t hear most of the story, how in the world did he… 

Jon felt the insane urge to laugh as some tears began to pool in his eyes. 

It was an evil, mind-controlling, giant spider living in a picture book. Of course it didn’t follow any logic or reason, it was already insane. This whole thing was just a mess, and Jon was so  _ stupid  _ for believing that any amount of research could make a difference! They were all doomed.

Norah’s muffled yells abruptly stopped coming from the doorway. Jon turned towards it slowly, still fighting the ridiculous urge to laugh or cry as he heard a few clicks, and Mr. Spider’s huge profile once again filled the door on the roof. 

It stuck it’s two front limbs out through the door and opened them like an embrace as the toddler slowly wandered closer. Jon took a hiccuping breath as he watched, there was absolutely nothing he could do! 

He remembered his thoughts from earlier in the day, about what he would do if Chris accidentally read the book. He had thought it would be a small price to pay for research. But watching it actually happen was so much worse than any of his imagining had been. The toddler was so small in front of such a creature.

Dread was like a stone in his stomach, and his breath shuddered again as a sob finally left his throat. He was so exhausted, and so scared, and he didn’t want to see another kid get taken by the spider!

Jon felt so hopeless— All of the research he had done, everything he had tried, had failed. There was no using knowledge against something so fearsome. And if his experiments couldn’t help him, then there really was no choice. The spider was always going to be hungry, and he didn’t want to keep fearing for his life. He was going to be followed by the spider no matter what he did.

And if it didn’t matter what he did, then he had nothing to lose.

****

Jon’s knees shook as he forced himself to take the first steps closer to the spider. His throat hurt as he gulped another breath, eyes burning as a tear finally ran down his cheek. He let out a strangled cry as he forced himself to speed up, running in front of Mr. Spider’s door and scooped Chris into his arms.

He tried to keep running, but the kid was heavier than he had thought. He could barely lift him, and Jon stumbled and tripped to the ground from the weight. Frantically, he latched onto one of Chris’ arms and tried to pull the kid away from the doorway, but he was only able to drag him back a few inches at most.

Chris was not helping. The toddler tried to get up and walk back towards Mr. Spider, but Jon was able to wrap his arms around him and hold him still. Chris was still squirming to break free, but Jon kept him where they were, just out of reach of Mr. Spider’s limbs.

_ What now whatnow whatnowwhatnowwhatnow….!?!?!?!?  _

Jon gazed up through his tears at Mr. Spider, who had gone very still in it’s doorway. Its eyes were once again locked on Jon’s. Spiders weren’t very expressive, but Jon was sure this one looked furious. He risked a quick glance back to the elevator, and was dismayed to see that the lift doors were shut. Even if he could manage to drag Chris there, it wouldn’t be a quick escape.

His thoughts snapped back to the present as Mr. Spider made a horrible chittering noise. It pawed the ground with it’s two front limbs and clicked its mandibles. Jon tried to drag himself back a few more inches as the door around Mr. Spider seemed to… bend somehow.

His palms scraped at the pavement and he grabbed Chris by the shirt, dragging the kid back with him. His head hurt and the door-bending made him dizzy, but Jon refused to take his eyes off Mr. Spider for even a moment. His gaze went higher as he tracked the door, and it was definitely getting bigger...

The spider stepped another jagged black leg through the entrance, and then another terrifying leg appeared on the other side. It clicked its mandibles again as it began to climb  _ out _ of the door towards Jon.

“Wait!!!!” Jon gasped, still scrambling backwards on his hands while attempting to shield Chris. 

He was shocked when the spider froze at his shout. It was silent, still staring at him, and tapped the roof twice with one of its feet, but made no move to come closer. Jon felt frozen too, as though any sudden movements would break the sudden quiet.

Chris squirmed again, breaking Jon’s terrified concentration. He didn’t have a plan. He didn’t have anything. But he didn’t want to be eaten, and he didn’t want to let Chris get eaten when he was right there watching.

His classmates had been one thing. He didn’t bring the book to school on purpose. He didn’t know what was happening then, and Patrick had decided to read, even when Jon had tried to stop him. He still didn’t know what was happening now, but Chris hadn’t ever decided to read the book on his own. He was too young to make any choice about it at all. 

Jon wrapped his hand tighter into the fabric of Chris’ pajamas, making sure he could hold him still. Then, he began to slowly stand up. He wiped his eyes, and looked back directly at the spider. 

“You can’t eat Chris.” He said, in a voice that was much too wobbly and quiet to sound as confident as he wanted to.

The spider must have thought the same, because it clicked its pincers again and switched its gaze to the toddler. 

“You can’t!” Jon cried again, stepping into the path of the spider’s gaze. “You just ate a whole grown-up, there’s no way you’re still hungry.”

The spider tilted its head, with an amused glint in its eye as it looked back at Jon. It took a menacing step towards them. Jon gulped and remembered the story of the book. “...MISTER SPIDER WANTS MORE”. 

Mr. Spider _ always  _ wants more… 

“But!!!” Jon stepped back again, shaking in fear. “Chris is so small.  _ I’m  _ so small!! We’ll hardly fill you up!! Wouldn’t you rather wait for a bigger meal?”

The spider tilted its head again. It took another step closer, but Jon swore he saw consideration in its eyes.

“I could… I could get you a bigger meal!” Jon stumbled back again, desperate. “I swear, I can. Just let us go, and I’ll make sure you do!!”

The spider took another step forward, and Jon felt himself back against the closed lift doors. There was nowhere else to go. Chris squirmed again, Jon squinched his eyes shut. Why had he jumped out in front of him? Now he was going to get eaten, all for a kid he doesn’t even know!

Jon flinched violently as he felt a rough, hairy limb brush against his shoulder. He kept his eyes shut and held his breath, waiting to be pulled away. Chris continued to squirm in his grasp, and the lift doors were almost as cold as the rough roof beneath his feet.

He thought of his parents, as little as he could remember them. He thought about his Grandmother, and Ms. May, and how none of them would even remember him when he was gone. He even thought about Evelyn, and how she would never be able to remember her sister or her son. Another tear slipped down his cheek.

He held back a whimper, but his lungs began to burn. He had to stop holding his breath, and gasped for air. Nothing happened. Did the spider leave? He risked squinting one eye open.

_ NOPE. _

The spider was only a foot away from his face, one limb curling around him, just barely touching his shoulder. But it wasn’t making any other movements. Jon opened his other eye wide in confusion. He stared at the spider for a long moment. 

Then, Mr. Spider carefully picked up its other front leg, and raised it towards Jon. But not to reach around him. Instead, it left it’s limb suspended in the air, about waist height, in front of Jon.

He stared at it dumbly, then looked back at Mr. Spider’s eight eyes. Why was this taking so long? None of the others had been taunted before they had been eaten! The spider just stared back, unmoving.

“What??” Jon whispered, terrified. “I - I don’t”

Mr. Spider clicked its mandibles impatiently. It shook it’s limb in front of Jon slowly, then and nudged his right hand with its leg, and returned it to the hovering position.

“Is it--” He was crazy, there’s no way… “Is it a deal? It’s a handshake?”

The spider made no movements, simply holding its huge limb steady in front of Jon. 

“Oh boy…” Jon whispered hoarsely. He hoped he was right. This was a terrible idea. “Okay. it’s a deal. I’ll get you a better meal, and you let us go.”

Jon released his numb grip on Christopher’s shirt, and tentatively reached towards the spider’s leg. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chris had stopped squirming and was staring up at the spider in quiet terror. 

Trying not to show his fear and disgust on his face, Jon grasped Mr. Spider’s foot gingerly. It was as cool as the nighttime air, and rough with little hairs. A little itchy, but not as horrible as he was expecting. 

He shook the limb up and down gently once, feeling immensely stupid. Just as he made to let go, three little spiders scurried down from Mr. Spider’s leg and ran up Jon’s arm. 

“Aaah!” He gasped, and tried to back away, bumping into Mr. Spider’s other leg. He wanted desperately to brush them off, but thought it might provoke Mr. Spider into eating them anyway, so he let the little spiders be. He shivered as he felt them scurry up his shoulder and neck and into his… hair? 

He didn’t have much time to think on it, because Mr. Spider abruptly stepped back. Jon felt his breath hitch and struggled not to collapse in relief. He met its eyes once more, and it... nodded at him. Finally, it turned around fully and exited through the shed door, which shrunk back to it’s normal size as the spider squeezed through it. 

The shed door finally swung shut, and Chris immediately started crying as the evil picture book clattered to the ground. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo is it still called a handshake if its with a spider? A leg-shake? Either way, probably not a good idea to make a deal with a giant evil one.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't think the bully has a name in cannon, but I'm calling him Thom. I have a decent bit of this story written out and will be posting as I edit the chapters. This is my first multi-chapter fic so aaa hope you like!


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